MAY 13, 2011 It was with bated breath that birders arrived this morning at the boardwalk, hoping that persistent predictions of a large wave for Friday would be borne out. And in part they were. Diversity was high; numbers were not, especially. The big story of the day, though, was the variety of scarce and highly sought-after species. Off the boardwalk, bus trips to Cedar Point had a reasonable degree of success, while the woods behind the Ottawa NWR visitor's center continued to produce. The undoubted highlight of the day at the Magee Marsh Boardwalk was a very cooperative CONNECTICUT WARBLER. It sauntered around marker 4 multiple times throughout the day, much to the delight of beginner and expert alike, drawing gasps every time it flounced into the air to pick a bug from the underside of the low-lying foliage. Sharing the scene were a duo of MOURNING WARBLERS, which entertained those waiting for their larger cousin to appear. WHIP-POOR-WILLS were again found, this time at two different roosts, and AMERICAN WOODCOCK put in an occasional appearance. The numbers of female warblers was especially evident, with female BLACKPOLL and TENNESSEE WARBLERS being the new arrivals. The continuing EASTERN SCREECH-OWLS brought a smile to many a birder, with a red-phase individual occasionally peeking out of its duck box hidey-hole. Off-boardwalk, the morning Ottawa NWR bus trips visiting Cedar Point also found a good variety of warblers, with another CONNECTICUT being the rarest, and a singing PRAIRIE perhaps the most unexpected. Flycatchers were especially evident, with first of season OLIVE-SIDED and YELLOW-BELLIED, and decent numbers of Empidonax, including vocalizing ALDER and a few Traill's-type that looked like WILLOW. Thrush numbers were also notably up, with at least 8 GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSHES, and PHILADELPHIA VIREOS (at least three of them) were well received. A cooperative AMERICAN BITTERN found while leaving was a crowd-pleaser for one of the trips. The afternoon trips didn't fare quite so well, but a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO that had eluded the morning groups was a welcome addition. The woods behind the Ottawa NWR visitor's center continued their winning streak. An overshoot WORM-EATING WARBLER hung around most of the day, and many a visiting birder got to add this unexpected bird to their burgeoning list of warbler species. The afternoon Black Swamp Bird Observatory bus trip was rather slow activity wise, but a dark female MERLIN at Metzger's Marsh gave the outing a little pizzazz, a WILLOW FLYCATCHER decided to help out by singing and removing all doubt, and close studies of TENNESSEE and CAPE MAY WARBLERS rounded out the trip. Shorebirds at the Ottawa-Lucas Road fluctuated wildly, with one visit finding only large groups of DUNLIN and a few SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, while later ones reported LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. Tomorrow is International Migratory Bird Day, traditionally the busiest day on the boardwalk for birders. Bird-wise the prediction is for a slower day than today, with many birds leaving on south winds. But doubtless the boardwalk will continue to produce, and many a birder will have their fill of warblers while enjoying the company of the myriad of other birders also visiting Magee. ANDREW SPENCER ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]